Tag Archives: Rolls-Royce

crisis response, opinion and insights

More Qantas/Rolls-Royce problems; more Jaques’ perspectives

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Last November, Qantas was thrust into the spotlight for an emergency landing seemingly caused by one of its Rolls-Royce engines.  Recently, the airline has faced a few more incidents involving Rolls-Royce engines. 

Once again, I reached out to Australian blogger and crisis management expert Tony Jaques for more perspectives on the situation.  Following is a summary of our dialogue:

J.D.:  What is the media/public sentiment in Australia right now — any scrutiny pointed at the airline or the engine manufacturer?  Any notable public anger or fear of flying?

Continue reading More Qantas/Rolls-Royce problems; more Jaques’ perspectives →

opinion and insights

Jaques on Qantas/Rolls-Royce situation

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Since starting this blog, I’ve enjoyed an ongoing dialogue with Tony Jaques, a Melbourne-based issues and crisis expert.  Tony read my posts on the Qantas A380 situation from last November and told me he’d keep me posted on local updates.

Last week, Tony forwarded his update post and granted permission for me to re-post in its entirety, below.

Continue reading Jaques on Qantas/Rolls-Royce situation →

crisis response, opinion and insights

Poll: Impact of crises today – deep or shallow?

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Courtesy: Stuart McMillen, based on work by Neil Postman

 

Although penned more than a year and a half ago, I recently stumbled upon a thought-provoking cartoon by Stuart McMillen and based on text by Neil Postman.  I’ve posted two key panels to the left, but clicking there will take you to the entire cartoon. 

In full, it concludes that Huxley’s fears have become more prevalent than Orwell’s, and that the public has an “almost infinite appetite for distractions.”  Information and entertainment overload are thought to be contributing factors.  We are hyperlinked, super networked and gadget consumed.  (For example, how many travelers do you see toggling through email, Twitter, AP news and Angry Birds apps when in an airport?  How many of you are those travelers?  I’m partially guilty.) 

If the Huxley fears are accurate, it raises an interesting question for crisis/reputation managers.  

Does a crisis today have more impact or less impact than, say, a decade ago when bad news came from fewer focal points? 

By example, I’d venture to guess that the public was more informed about the Toyota recall or the Qantas’ emergency landing (caused by a faulty Rolls-Royce engine) than a decade ago.  But is the impact the same as a decade ago?  

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crisis response, opinion and insights

Too Soon to Qantify the Qantas Response?

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If you are unfamiliar with Wednesday’s dramatic events that happened to Qantas, Austrialia’s national airline that has never had a fatal accident, the events are nicely chronicled on this post from Tnooz, a news and analysis site on the travel industry.

Condensed summary:

  • Qantas A380 makes a safe emergency return landing in Singapore after a Rolls-Royce made engine broke apart minutes after takeoff.
  • Passengers aboard the plane quickly Tweet and upload photos of videos of the engine and emergency landing efforts.
  • Reuters reports that CNBC television learns of a plane crashing near Singapore.
    • Note:  I could not evidence of a misreported crash anywhere on a CNBC website – beware of media sourcing media!
  • People on the ground on the small island of Batam upload photos of logoed engine parts (around the same time Qantas may have told Australian media there were no signs of wreckage)
  • On Wednesday evening, Qantas posted updates to its Facebook page.  The same night, one Tweet from its travel-tips account redirects inquiries to official Qantas channels, and its U.S.- targeted Twitter account adds a link the next day.

The Tnooz reporter concludes that the airline could have done more on Twitter to reassure the public.   Ragan.com’s Matt Wilson calls the situation “Qantas’s big #fail in quelling tweeted rumors of a crash.”  Crisisblogger Gerald Baron raises good questions and challenges, but ultimately grades the situation a C- to F grade. 

In my view, Qantas deserves a little more deliberation on its deliberation.

Continue reading Too Soon to Qantify the Qantas Response? →